Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 30: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the persons that will carry out a review of the location of the new National Children's Hospital; when it will be completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7609/11]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The Government has committed, under the programme for Government, to the construction of the new children's hospital. Since my appointment as Minister, I have been engaged in discussions with my officials and with the national paediatric hospital board in order to brief myself on the work done on this project to date. I want to be clear about how we can best provide the hospital in the most cost effective manner while ensuring a high quality service for our children and young people.

I intend to carry out a review of the National Children's Hospital project and will announce the details shortly. I am currently being briefed in some detail on all aspects of the project. Following consideration of the evidence presented to me, I will decide on the scope and terms of reference of the review and the appropriate person or persons to carry out the review. I anticipate that the review, once commenced, should take approximately four weeks to complete.

It is essential that all the facts are carefully considered before a final decision is taken on the best approach. In particular, I wish to be satisfied that the hospital will provide the best possible clinical outcomes for children and young people. The Deputy may rest assured that I wish to avoid any unnecessary delay to the development of this very important project.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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As this is my first time taking parliamentary questions on health I wish to congratulate the Minister on his appointment. He states that the Government has committed to the children's hospital, and he also states that it is carrying out a review. Will it take four weeks for the review to begin or four weeks for the review to be completed? Will the decision be made by the Minister alone, on foot of the recommendations made by this review body? Who will draft the terms of reference for this review? What are the terms of reference? Will they be made public prior to the review being carried out? Has the Minister brought in outside consultants, such as other organisations, agencies and interested bodies that may have expressed views publicly already?

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Comhghairdeas don Teachta on his appointment. The review will take four weeks from the time it begins, but before we can do that, further information is required, especially in respect of the bottoming out of the money that we have available. I was given an estimate for the building cost by the last chairman of the board, but there was a €10 million variance between that and the figures that had been produced by the HSE.

I also want to be assured that we are comparing like with like, so I have asked for a costing to be done if the exact same hospital, with the exact same specifications, were built on a greenfield site. It is important that we know the difference in money and that we are comparing apples and apples and not apples and oranges. While I am acutely aware that every month this goes by costs the taxpayer €500,000, there is the possibility of hundreds of millions being lost if we build a place without foreseeing all the problems involved, and in the absence of all the facts. The draft terms of reference for the review will be drawn up by my Department. It is absolutely our intention that the review will be carried out by persons of international repute. The Government remains committed to the building of a national paediatric hospital. Obviously, we want to ensure it is built in the quickest fashion possible and in the right place at an affordable cost. I shall finish by saying the IMF is in town.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister has said he needs further information prior to establishing the review group and giving it terms of reference. Equally, he has stated publicly that he has concerns about the proposed location of the hospital, as indicated. Does he still hold such concerns or will he park them while he waits for the independent review body to report? In the event that it make a recommendation contrary to the Minister's opinion, what will happen then, or will he use this as an excuse to delay the project further?

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I do not intend to delay it. My concerns remain, while my opinion is a different matter entirely. I hope my concerns will be addressed in the review, as well as those of everybody who has the best interests of children at heart. I want to know that we are building the hospital in the right place. I want to ensure any access issues will be adjudged and taken into consideration vis-À-vis the benefits of co-location from a clinical outputs viewpoint, in other words, the benefit of having an adult hospital located beside a paediatric hospital. There are a number of other concerns into which I will not go out of respect for the Chair. However, the Deputy can take it that there is no question of delaying tactics. I am very happy to say the board has elected an interim chairperson who is happy to serve. Mr. Harry Crosbie and I welcome this.